After greeting Lawrence, Major Serier retreated to the rear with great amusement, leaving the center to the Duke of Choiseul and Lawrence.

The Duke of Choiseul, who was standing in front of Lawrence, continued to turn his head to look around, but his gaze soon rested on a ship in the harbor.

The hull of the ship was covered with jet-black marks, with only a few areas showing the normal dark oak color.

Even the three masts that were supposed to stand on the deck were dismantled by the burning fire, leaving the deck bare and nothing.

Under such damage, it is even a miracle that it can still float on the surface of the sea.

"Tsk... This is the British warship."

Duke Choiseul looked at the reasonable number like a large piece of coke, and shook his head with embarrassment.

Lawrence also focused his gaze on the Reasonable, smiling and nodding.

Despite the fact that the damage to the Reason was so bad, Grosso, after personally inspecting its internal structure, confirmed that the main structure was not damaged, so it was not particularly difficult to repair.

Of course, in view of Corsica's current financial situation, and the lack of a need to improve the naval strength for the time being, Lawrence had no choice but to put the matter of repairing the Reasonable on hold and mothballed the battleship in the harbor for later discussions.

"What a good battleship, it's also an exemplary existence in a third-class ship."

The Duke of Choiseul shook his head, and said, as if intentionally and unintentionally:

"The British have lost such a battleship and the experienced sailors on it, and I am afraid they will not give up."

After hearing this, Lawrence glanced at the Duke of Choiseul without changing his face, and secretly sighed that this duke was really the same as when they met for the first time.

Both of them knew that Lawrence's daring to burn down the Justification and execute the British officers was essentially a kind of false threat, and it was with France's backing of Corsica that Lawrence would make such a radical and popular decision.

And the Duke of Choiseul's words were undoubtedly asking Lawrence for reciprocation, after all, France's willingness to block most of the pressure from the British for Corsica was not out of good intentions.

"I think so, the British must have blown up."

Lawrence nodded quietly and said, this sentence also implied that he accepted the advantages of the French and would make concessions in subsequent negotiations, and then added:

"Your Excellency, this is a commotion, please come with me to the Doge's Palace, I have prepared a grand banquet for you."

A look of satisfaction appeared on the face of the Duke of Choiseul, but he waved his hand and said with a smile:

"The feast is not to be spared, and it is better to satisfy my spirit by talking to an enlightened and excellent young man like Governor Bonaparte than to stuff my stomach with food."

Lawrence glanced at the Duke of Choiseul and felt that he was as impatient as the historical record, and that he had just arrived in Corsica and was in a hurry to negotiate with him.

However, since the Duke of Choiseul had so requested, Lawrence was also willing to accompany him, and after instructing the elder Sean and Yaan to receive the rest of the French visitors, the two got into a carriage and went to the Doge's Palace.

Upon his return to the Doge's Palace, the meeting took place directly in Lawrence's study, as it was only Lawrence and Duke Schwarseul, and was not a formal negotiation with the scribe's record.

After taking their seats, neither of them rushed to speak, but calmly tasted the hot tea brought in by Anna, while silently preparing the next confrontation strategy in their hearts.

Although this was not a formal negotiation, both Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul knew that the cumbersome negotiations that followed would only discuss minor issues.

The real big issues will be resolved in this private meeting.

"Ahem..."

The Duke of Choiseul took up his teacup and drank the little tea that was left, then set it aside, cleared his throat and said:

"Doge Bonaparte, take this opportunity to talk about the Corsican crown."

"Of course, what do you want to talk about?"

Lawrence politely extended his hand and motioned for the Duke of Choiseul to continue.

"The last time we met, it was at Count Marbof's manor—"

The Duke of Choiseul rubbed his temples and recalled:

"I remember we agreed on autonomy in Corsica, but... King Louis was not pleased with this resolution, and you can understand that, of course, as a king, he needs to govern the country to a greater or lesser extent."

"Autonomy..."

Lawrence frowned and looked at the Duke of Choiseul, Louis XV's dissatisfaction was probably just a rhetoric, in essence, the Duke of Choiseul wanted to take advantage of the British and Corsica to force Lawrence to make concessions.

"Of course I can understand King Louis's thoughts, so what does King Louis need?"

Although Lawrence was asking the Duke of Choiseul, in fact, Lawrence himself had already guessed this answer.

The French will not have the will to rule directly in a short period of time in a rotten land like Corsica, which is backward in education and incompatible in language and culture, so it is clear what the French want.

"Money."

The Duke of Schwarcel smiled and said:

"Or taxes, a percentage of Corsican's taxes need to be given to the king to show the king's dominion over the land."

Lawrence silently looked at the Duke of Choiseul, and sighed in his heart that he had really come to ask for money.

Despite the fact that Corsica was already very poor, the French gave Corsica full political autonomy anyway, and to put it bluntly, left the Corsicans to fend for themselves.

Well, in this case, even if the exploitation of the Corsican people by the French causes any problems, the French do not need to put extra effort into governing it, because the mess will be left to Lawrence to clean up.

"I have to tell you, just now I was discussing taxes with the Minister of Finance of Corsica."

Lawrence looked at Duke Choiseul solemnly and said:

"The people of Corsica cannot afford this yet another tax burden."

"Perhaps, but the people, those peasants can save this part of the tax for a while."

The Duke of Choiseul ignored Lawrence's direct gaze and said nonchalantly:

"Every Corsican eats one less loaf of bread a day, and that's all."

"Most Corsicans don't eat a loaf of bread a day."

Lawrence said in a deep voice.

The Duke of Choiseul shrugged his shoulders, but did not speak, and it was clear that he did not accept Lawrence's reason.

There was a brief silence in the study, and Duke Choiseul's face froze a little.

Seeing that the negotiations between the two sides were at an impasse, Lawrence suddenly looked up at the Duke of Schwarcel and said:

"Maybe I have another solution."

"Another option?"

The Duke of Choiseul frowned and asked, if he didn't think that Corsica could provide France with anything other than taxes.

"As you may know, deep in the mountains southeast of Ajaccio, there is a silver mine."

Lawrence got up and took down the map of Corsica that hung on the wall, pointed to the southeast of Ajaccio and said to the Duke of Choiseul.

The Duke of Choiseul nodded in a sudden understanding, and it seemed that Lawrence was prepared to replace the taxes paid with part of the proceeds of this silver mine, so he said with a little satisfaction:

"I've heard of it, and it's a bonanza, and that's probably why the Kingdom of Sardinia wants to invade Corsica. It's just—"

The Duke of Choiseul said, his face a little hesitant, and added:

"I've also heard that the silver mine is developing very slowly, the roads around it are poor, and there is not enough labor in Corsica, so I guess it will take a long time for large-scale mining, right?"

Lawrence nodded, the Duke of Choiseul was the one who controlled France's foreign policy, and he knew so well about the silver mines in remote Corsica.

"You're right, but it's a pretty good investment." Lawrence said as he swiped his hand across the map.

Duke Choiseul was a little interested, licked his lips and asked:

"Governor Bonaparte, what are you going to do?"

Lawrence looked squarely at the Duke of Schwartle, who had been prepared for this question, and said in a deep voice:

"I will set up the National Silver Company of Corsica with the Ajaccio Silver Mine, with the Corsican government holding 51% of the shares and the remaining 49% owned by the French royal family."

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Chapter 136 The National Silver Company (I) Free Reading.